Category Archives: Beauty and the Beast

I grew up loving Beauty and the Beast. I have read many different versions of the tale. I have read modern adaptations and I have read different cultural adaptations. I will be talking about the book in length, so there will be spoilers.

Having Read Fairest of All, and having enjoyed it a lot, I had high hopes for The Beast Within. I was disappointed. At times it felt like I was reading bad fanfiction(and I like fanfiction, there is a lot of good fanfiction out there). Page 22 is a good example of what I am talking about.

There was a character by the name of Tulip Morningstar, that made my eyes roll. Tulip Morningstar? That was the best name the author could come up with? She was supposed to be the name for one of the love interests that the Beast meets before he meets Belle. Really? It sounded so stupid, I couldn’t take it seriously.

Circe being the witch/enchantress, a pig farmer’s daughter, and having three sisters (making me think of Macbeth) was another Wtf moment.

It is really hard for me to say when I became a fangirl. I think because of the family I grew up in I was born to be a nerd and geek. With my father he love of science, star trek, science fiction books, comic books, etc. My mother love crafts, phantom of the opera, romance books, books in general, and when she become obsessed with it, she sucked the life out of that obsession until she sucked the life out of it and than moves onto the next fandom.

I was born to be a fangirl.

I had to think for a long time about this. I was wracking my brain, trying to go through the mess I call my memories to figure out what began my way to being a fangirl.

I know everyone is probably looking like this the image below, but hear me out.

The reason why I have this at number one is because between the Musical 1776 that I remember watching when I was a little girl in Rhode Island, learning about American Revolutionary history during my trips to Boston, and just growing up in a household that encouraged learning- I was hooked to this aspect of history. Practically every time in history class when we got around to this topic I was excited. I still remember the huge paper diagram we did in my 5th grade class of the “Road to Revolution.”

Wish I had a picture of it, it was awesome.

I know the musical is inaccurate and I know that not all aspects of the American Revolution are things to aspire to, but the history is something I have always geeked out about. This helped develop my love of backstory, connecting past, present, and future. It also helped appreciate the history of my country.

2.) Fairy Tales & Disney

I tried to take a picture of my moms book, but it kept turning out terribly (I think there is something up with my camera) , so I borrowed another persons and linked it in the photo credit.

Fairy Tales and Disney for me went hand in hand when I was younger. For Halloween I have been Aurora, Jasmine, and Belle (twice). I loved Disney and Fairy Tales. As I got older I fell in love with the book my mom had, The World’s Best Fairy Tales (Readers Digest Anthology). It had beautiful illustrations in it and different fairy tales in it. That is when I learned of that Disney had changed some of these tales, which seeing how The Little Mermaid originally ended. I’m okay with the new ending.

I didn’t Cartoon Network when I was younger so I was unable to watch Scooby-Doo, but I was able to read the Scooby-Doo comics. My dad would go to the comic book store all the time, I even went with him sometimes. I don’t remember how I started getting the Scooby-Doo comic books, but once I started getting them, I haven’t stopped reading comics since. I don’t read the Scooby-Doo Comics anymroe, not because I don’t like them, but because I have expanded my comic book reading and I want to go beyond the meddling kids ending (even though that phrase still brings me a smile). It was all because of Scooby-Doo comics I began reading about Batman, Superman, X-Men, Thor, and various other comics I now read.

“The Babylon Project was our last, best hope for peace. A self-contained world five miles long, located in neutral territory. A place of commerce and diplomacy for a quarter of a million humans and aliens. A shining beacon in space, all alone in the night. It was the dawn of the Third Age of Mankind…the year the Great War came upon us all. This is the story of the last of the Babylon stations. The year is 2259. The name of the place is Babylon 5.”

I still geekgagasm whenever I hear these words. Since this series first came out when I was too young to understand, I wasn’t able to appreciate it as much. Yes, I would watch a few episodes with my parents and I really enjoyed the story. It helped cultivate my love for sci-fi, fantasy, and space. Later on as I got older I began watching the full series on DVD and I became hooked. Although I was sad and disappointed by the last season, it was still good and it still has left its mark on my geek heart.

The Book that finally helped me confirm who and what I was- a geek. Believe it or not, it took me three times to read the first chapter before I could get into it. It just felt a little slow for me at first. I finally got into though and once I did, look out.

I didn’t know another geek like me out there (among people I knew, not on the internet). I was on Mugglenet, HP Lexicon, The Leaky Cauldron, Potter Talk, HP Companion, and JK Rowlings website. I began reading HP fanfiction while waiting for the next book to come out. I found a whole new world where others geeked out like me, loved the back story, analyzed all the details and tried to figure out what happens next.

Although I was also disappointed with the ending of this book and series, I still love it and it still has a place in my heart.

For me, even though I may no longer obsess some of these fandoms as hard as I did back in the day, they still have a place in the heart.

I may tick people off when it comes to this, but I don’t really care. I am kind of irritated.

I know that when a new episode of my favorite TV Show, a new book to my favorite series, or a sequel to a movie I enjoyed has come out. I know there will be this crazy thing that will pop up on the internet called spoilers.

I also know that if I start getting into a series that has been around for a while there will be lots of fansites on the internet that could possibly spoil it for me. As a result I don’t go looking for it till I have caught up. I am okay with that.

And if a series is older than 10 years I shouldn’t have to post spoilers in the title. I shouldn’t have to post spoilers in the article at all.

When I am getting into a series and I know it is old; I don’t go looking online. If I do, I know I am doing it at my own risk. If I am just getting into a series that is brand new, if a new episode has come, out and I haven’t seen it yet; I will avoid those websites in the meantime until I have seen the episode. It is a lot easier to do than you think.

I have missed a lot concerning Once Upon A Time lately. Due to my facebook feed all I know is that the Wicked Witch is involved. That is it. I don’t know anything about it.

When I have missed new episodes from Doctor Who, Once Upon A Time, Sleep Hollow, Game of Thrones, etc. you know what I do? I do this amazing thing called don’t look and don’t search for it. I don’t go looking for things on tumblr, pinterest, etc. If something pops up while I’m on there I do this amazing thing where I ignore it. I don’t read it, I just click away from it.

Now when I am talking among friends in person I have more discretion because well even if they cover their ears there is not much they can do about it. Instead I talk privately about with the friends who are in the know or I ask if that person cares if I spoil it for them.

Most of them don’t, a few do. It’s cool.

What happens if what happened on the internet happened in the real world, where people actually interact face to face.

I am in a bookstore or cafe talking about a new episode with friends. It is just a conversation between the two of us. All of a sudden someone comes up to me and says ‘you just spoiled that episode for me!’ You should have said spoilers!’ ‘I wasn’t talking to you though and you didn’t have to listen in’, I say. ‘Still though you can’t go around talking about it and spoiling for everyone,’ says whiny fan(girl/boy).

See how ridiculous that is?

In all honestly though I don’t know what is so hard about not looking for information related to your fandom. My father does it all the time. I do it all the time, and so does my mother. We are all Geeks. If they sees any article related to TV Shows and yes even movies that they are interested in, they will do this crazy thing where they ignores it and they don’t read and or watch youtube videos online, or look up anything related, unless they don’t care. Which sometimes they don’t.

I do the exact same thing. I don’t fanboy/fangirl rage at someone for spoiling something, especially since, I went looking at the topic in relation to said fandom in the first place. I can understand it may be a little more “difficult” when you are subscribed and or following that person. Usually the titles though are a pretty good giveaway of what they are talking about. I follow so many geek related sites and I have yet to have the entire episode of Game of Thrones spoiled for me. It has only happened once. Once!

Big example. I have’t seen the current season of Game of Thrones. I accidentally saw something about the purple wedding and I only know that…..

SPOILER ALERT

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You have been warned

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Are you sure you want to go further

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Fine I am not responsible….

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SOMEONE DIES

Honestly that shouldn’t be a surprise to:

those who have read the books

those who have watched the season so far

those who know that George R.R. Martin loves killing people more so than Moffat.
(Imagine if they did an episode together…)

I remember when I was a little girl I was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast. Well if I am honest with myself, I am still obsessed with it.

I have always identified with belle. She reads books, she felt like an outcast within her own community. With this being said I always wanted to find my own beast. The one thing that always struck me was that when I first saw the ending of Beauty and the Beast I was struck with uncertainty by what I saw. I had imagined the prince to look different, but I did like his eyes.

Over the years I had seriously dated a few men, went on a few dates with others, and flirted with many. There was variation, but my type was generally blonde hair, blue eyes, and slightly taller than me. All of those encounters would end eventually leaving me filled with disappointment and irritation.

Than I met Christopher.

I had met Christopher only 6-7 months after I got out of a long term relationship. I had been dating that individual for a year and a few months, had dated him before an knew him since the 6th grade. I was ready to be on my own. I was tired of being in a relationship and not looking forward to one.

I had plans. I wanted to date around. I wanted to enjoy being single and free. I was ready to kiss strangers and flirt with men. I was ready to party, to live, and be free. I was 19, single, and ready to mingle.

Christopher kind of ruined some of those plans.

I had met him my second year I was at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. I met him through my roommate. I don’t fully remember our first encounter- I was too focused on leaving for dinner at the time, but he remembered me and he said he was blown away by the presence I had.

A day or two later my roommate was getting ready to head out and Christopher was picking up a bunch of friends and she was one of them.

While she was getting ready Christopher showed and needed to be let in. In my pajamas that my grandma had made me. I went to the door and let him in. He said thanks. When we got back inside we hung out in the kitchen and just talked for 5 minutes. I had a feeling he was attracted to me, but I ignored that feeling. I don’t remember what we talked about, but apparently I had left an impression. He was cute and awkward, but than again I wasn’t looking either.

Later on I found out from my roommate that he was interested in me. I was not surprised, but I still was at the same time. Anytime a guy shows interest in me it still takes me by surprise.

She said if I would be interested in meeting up with him. I said sure, but I would like someone I knew there since I didn’t know him. I didn’t mention that I was nervous since I was still recovering from a past abusive relationship. I didn’t mention that this guy was the tallest guy I had ever dated and the first guy I felt intimidated by, ever.

I decided to go not because I was head over heels, but simply for the reason why not. I had said I would start dating. He seemed nice, funny, and he was cute. I would give it a shot.

On a Sunday my roommate, Christopher and I all went to Mellow Mushroom in downtown Chattanooga. We all ordered pizza and Christopher and I just talked. My roommate said I was acting like this the first date I had ever been on. Heck I remember my first date, I was never this nervous.

We talked about everything and we tried to include my roommate in the conversation, we didn’t want to have her feel like a third wheel. We talked about everything. We broke all the rules about what to not take about and I didn’t care that I was breaking all the rules. For me I was testing this guy. Every girl does it, most don’t admit it.

We talked about religion, politics, our old schools, college, everything. I felt so nervous, but at the same time I felt such ease. He was different I could read him, couldn’t pin down his personality. He was a mystery.

After that kind of date I had a great time and I really enjoyed. We continued talking over the week and we soon went on our first date. After a month of seeing each other we officially became a couple. I will be posting about our first week getting to know each other and our official first date.

Now we have been dating for over 4 1/2 years and it has been one awesome crazy ride. I won’t lie in the beginning I constantly questioned if I did the right thing. Am I with the right person? Am I settling? Am I repeating the same mistakes again? Do I really want this?

I can tell you after over 4 1/2 years I made the right decision that day. Like I wasn’t sure about the Beast after I saw him transform, I wasn’t sure about Christopher.

What helped me change my mind was a few things:

I realized his eyes were the same color.

Like the Beast was not what I was expecting, neither was Christopher.

Belle wasn’t expecting the Beast to look and be him either. She doubted too.

Sometimes God doesn’t give what you expect, he gives you something he knows will be the best thing (in this case person) for you. And he did.

There were other signs as well. I had a list of things that were important to me to find in a man. Well the weirdest part is, I know that Christopher fit that list, but I can’t remember all that was on that list. It is like once I found the person that fit the list, the list disappeared from my memory. I know weird.

For me I know I found my Beast. He is not perfect, he is awkward and clumsy at times. He is the sweetest person and very kind. Sometimes you find love unexpectedly. I know I did.